Vietnam sold 9.48Mt of cement in the first quarter of this year, down slightly from 9.57Mt in the same period of last year, the Ministry of Construction (MoC) said. The decline was attributed to a stagnant real estate market, according to the MoC.

The three-month figure accounted for 19.5 per cent of the country’s full-year target, the ministry said on its website late Wednesday.

In the first quarter, the country exported 1.46Mt of cement and clinker, including 320,000t of clinker.

In the first quarter, the country’s cement production was 9.83Mt, making up 17.6 per cent of the full-year target, including 3.86Mt in March.